Do you ever find yourself in great discouragement or despair over your problems and/or the things going on in the world? Explain.

In the midst of no. 1, have you ever thought about these verses and how you could thank God in these situations? If yes, how do you come about to doing that? If no, how do you reconcile your problems and the problems of this world with God’s will to give thanks in all circumstances?

How do you feel when you continue to give thanks in both good and bad circumstances? Is there an emotional payoff? Is there a spiritual payoff?

Have you ever grown in Christ by being a continual major complainer and criticizer? Explain. Have you ever grown in Christ by being a continual thankful and grateful person to God? Explain.

How does the principle that thankfulness is a choice, not a feeling, change your life, if any?

How does the six things that you can always be thankful for, even in the most horrible of situations, help you be thankful in all circumstances?

Which of these six things listed help you the most in giving thanks always? Why?

What three things you will be thanking God for the most in this Thanksgiving season?

Which one of you are a Christian and haven’t been baptized yet? Will you consider getting baptized this coming March or April of 2016?

Jesus had just been crucified. All the disciples had deserted Him. One of them had betrayed Him and another denied even knowing Him three times. Now the authorities are looking for His main associates. If you were one of His Eleven Disciples, how would you feel at this point of the Gospel narrative? What would you do?

Have you ever been a part of a vision and/or an organization that failed after you had spent months to years physically, emotionally, and financially investing in? What happened, how did you feel, and what did you do after? Please share and realize this is exactly what the Disciples felt, except probably much worse.

Luke uses the Gospel account at the end of this passage (24:12) as a literary device to have the ready become like the Apostle Peter, wondering what had happened to Jesus’ body. Was He stolen? Did He survive and run away somewhere? Or was He truly risen, as the women disciples had said? Let’s say you never heard of the entire Gospel Story before, except up to this point at Lk. 24:12. What would you be wondering if you didn’t read ahead? Would you think Jesus was stolen, run-away, risen, or something else?

Have you ever struggled with the factuality of Jesus’ resurrection? If so, what is your struggle? If no, then what is the reason why you haven’t struggled with it? One thing is for certain, from what the Bible says, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is seen as something that actually happened in history. It can’t be spiritualized or just made into a metaphor. We must make a choice to believe in it or not, and our spiritual salvation depends partially on it (Rom. 10:9-10).

What else impacted you from this message? What are you going to think or do differently, if any, from what you heard from this worship message?

If you were Malchus, healed by Jesus, and asked by the chief priests to escort Him through the three trials He faced, what would you think, feel, or do?

A lot of theologians observe that spiritually speaking we are like Barabbas, meaning we sinners were set free and pardoned as a result of Jesus’ condemnation. If you were Barabbas, what would you do with your new life? What would you do now as a person in the 21st century if you were given a second chance?

Have you ever played the roles of this account in your life? (See below.) Please explain. What led you to leave these roles and become a follower of Christ? Or are you still in one of these roles?Chief Priests – Doubters and/or Haters of Jesus.Pilate – Curios Analyzer of Jesus. Agnostic to His Claims.Herod – Jesus is an Entertaining Religious Story. Crowds – Whatever the Popular Opinion of Jesus is, is Your Opinion. Barabbas – The Substitute Religion/Philosophy You Prefer so You don’t have to Believe in Jesus. Theopholis – Objective Observer and Fan of Jesus, yet not Ready to Believe and Follow.